13. Syntax and Word Relationships Flashcards
In shifting from synthetic to analytic, language once heavily inflected will?
Lose many, if not all, of its inflections until, like modern English, it retains only a few case or tense endings
Without inflections, a language must rely heavily on?
Syntax to establish grammatical meaning
Most important aspect of Modern English syntax?
Word order
English word order has changed in the last ___ years
500
Modern English relies on ___ to communicate meaning
Word order
Inverted word order is still used as?
A stylistic or poetic device-subject and auxiliary verb are reversed
A necessary step in the evolution of a language with few inflections?
Development of auxiliary verbs
Modern English has ___ commonly used prepositions
50
Syntax
The aspect of grammar dealing with word order and word relationships; compare morphology
Morphology
The relationship of word parts to one another; compare syntax
Inflection
A word part used to indicate tense, mood, gender, case, and number; the pattern of change expressed through inflected endings
